Ecclesiastes 11: be generous, life is too short to hoard your goods.

 In Ecclesiastes 11 we read:

1 Be generous: Invest in acts of charity.

Charity yields high returns.

2 Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around.

Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night.

> I have to learn to be generous. I have to always remember that the Lord has been kind to me, everyday.

3-4 When the clouds are full of water, it rains.

When the wind blows down a tree, it lies where it falls.

Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work.

Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life.

> It is a blessing to contemplate the acts of God, but the Lord wants me to participate in his creation. 

5 Just as you’ll never understand

    the mystery of life forming in a pregnant woman,

So you’ll never understand

    the mystery at work in all that God does.

6 Go to work in the morning

    and stick to it until evening without watching the clock.

You never know from moment to moment

    how your work will turn out in the end.

> When you work on the Lord's creation, remember that is the Lord who makes your work a success or a failure.

Before the Years Take Their Toll

7-8 Oh, how sweet the light of day,

And how wonderful to live in the sunshine!

Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted.

Take delight in each light-filled hour,

Remembering that there will also be many dark days

And that most of what comes your way is smoke.

9 You who are young, make the most of your youth.

Relish your youthful vigor.

Follow the impulses of your heart.

If something looks good to you, pursue it.

But know also that not just anything goes;

You have to answer to God for every last bit of it.

10 Live footloose and fancy-free—

You won’t be young forever.

Youth lasts about as long as smoke.

> I am getting old. I am studying some ways of dying: stroke, cancer, dementia, etc. It is really a blessing to be alive today and I am not so sure about tomorrow. Ecclesiastes tell me to "take delight in each hour" here on earth. It is a waste of time to think heavily about the past and its errors: Jesus took my sins away.